Tracking HERA's

Global Health Engagement

What’s HERA?

About

The EU's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)

The EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was created in follow-up to the COVID-19 pandemic. HERA was established to enhance Europe's capacity to secure medical countermeasures during pandemics or major health emergencies. This involves identifying potential threats, evaluating available countermeasures, maintaining stockpiles, supporting the development of new solutions, and ensuring the ability to produce them rapidly and at scale when necessary.

HERA is meant to function in a dual-mode capacity – in preparing for potential health threats and in responding to health threats in the emergency of an event. 

How HERA fits into the global health space?

As outlined in its founding mandate, HERA works to reduce future health threats during the preparedness phase by focusing on six key tasks


Global health is a key focus for HERA.

The establishment of HERA has presented tremendous potential to support the EU’s leading role in global health, notably through the implementation of the EU Global Health Strategy. Through preparedness, stockpiling, and partnerships, HERA strengthens the EU’s ability to respond to international health threats while promoting resilience, equity, and global cooperation.

We aim to provide an independent observation of HERA’s global health actions since its establishment. The actions are categorised by six main areas

1

Threat assessment and intelligence gathering

2

Research and development

3

Local production capacity

4

Donation and contribution of resources

5

Events and collaboration agreements

6

Global health instrument

HERA's budget for its international activities

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HERA’s budget for its international activities

Share of international activities in HERA's budget over year

The graph includes only HERA’s budget for international activities under Task 6 (International Dimension) of its annual work plans for 2022 to 2024. It excludes the budget for global health-related activities under Task 1 (Threat Assessments and Intelligence Gathering) and Task 2 (Research and Development of MCMs) because their annual values were unavailable.

Source: HERA’s work plans for 2022, 2023 and 2024; unit: EUR million.

Six areas of HERA’s global health actions

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Six areas of HERA's global
health actions

Threat assessment and intelligence gathering
Research and development
Local production capacity
Donation and contribution of resources
Events and collaboration agreements
Global health instrument
Threat assessment and intelligence gathering

Threat assessment and intelligence gathering

This area of HERA aims to strengthen early threat detection and intelligence gathering through epidemic monitoring, sequencing, and wastewater surveillance.

HERA collaborates globally to track pathogens, prioritizes medical countermeasures for key threats like pandemics and AMR while working to advance innovative diagnostics and platforms for rapid response.

HERA's funding for intelligence gathering and surveillance capacity from 2022-2024

budget
12 million

Global level initiatives

Sum of HERA’s funding for the two initiatives: Establishing GLOWACON (Global Consortium for Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance for Public Health) & Signing of a contribution agreement for the WHO Pandemic Hub to increase global intelligence capacities

budget
17.4 million

LMIC-focused initiatives

Sum of HERA’s funding for the four initiatives: Joint funding for Africa CDC’s Pathogen Genomic Initiative 2.0, Collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) to address the threat of emerging infections on the African continent, Support the establishment of a new WHO hub in Africa

Research and development

Research and development

This area of HERA aims to drive research and development of innovative, safe, and affordable medical countermeasures. It promotes a unified EU research agenda for pandemic preparedness, collaborates on clinical trial readiness, and invests in innovative solutions.

Through investment, HERA supports diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and PPE, working towards ensuring long-term preparedness and global health security.

HERA's funding for R&D in LMICs with epidemic and pandemic potential from 2022-2024

budget
273.4 million

Sum of HERA’s financial contribution to international/global actions on R&D of MCMs relevant for LMICs, including CEPI, EDCTP, IHI, WHO initiatives on AMR and GloPID-R

Local production capacity

Local production capacity

This area of HERA aims to assist LMICs in strengthening their capacity, expertise, and infrastructure for preparedness, response, and local production and manufacturing of medical countermeasures including vaccines.

Role of HERA: technical and scientific expertise and advice for DG INTPA to identify and prioritise investment opportunities and projects under TEI MAV+

Team Europe Initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa (TEI MAV+)
12
projects
Approved under TEI MAV+
6
countries
LMICs receiving projects to boost their production capacity
Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa as of 25/11/2024

HERA’s role: technical and scientific expertise and advice for DG INTPA to identify and prioritise investment opportunities and projects under TEI MAV+

Donation and contribution of resources

Donation and contribution of resources

This area of HERA aims to supply in kind donations and financial contributions to global mechanisms to fortify global response to global health threats.

This includes vaccines, diagnostics, and other resources to LMICs in response to emergencies including COVID-19 and Mpox

EU's Contribution to the Pandemic Fund

247 million

19 projects were funded
37 countries received funding

HERA’s role: Advice for the Euopean Commission in the design of calls for funding proposals and other strategic documents

EU’s Vaccine donation

41%
of the global share of COVID-19 vaccines
(dec 2022)
10%
of the global share of Mpox vaccines
(nov 2024)

HERA’s role: support for the EU and its Member States in donating vaccines

Events and collaboration agreements

Events and collaboration agreements

This area of HERA aims to strengthen cooperation on health emergency preparedness and response with authorities in LMICS and key global actors.

HERA also participates and contributes to global events focused on global health security.

HERA participated in 7 events and missions focusing on public health security in LMICS

International Conference on Public Health in Africa
12/2022
Grand Challenges Annual Meeting
10/2023
International Conference on Public Health in Africa
11/2023
Antimicrobial Resistance Experts Meet for In-person TATFAR Meeting
11/2023
International conference in Frankfurt am Main 'Towards a Wastewater Surveillance System for Public Health'
11/2023
High-level dialogue to Strengthen the Health Partnership between Africa and Europe
02/2024
GLOWACON 2024 Regional Conference Asia
06/2024

HERA signed 2 cumulative agreements with counterpart authorities in LMICs

Since 2022

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

Go to agreement
Since 2022

Africa Medicines Agency

Go to agreement

HERA signed 4 agreements with international/multilateral organisations



Since 2022
Since 2023


Global health instrument

Global health instrument

This area of HERA aims to be a key instrument for global health preparedness at the EU level, while also focusing on strategic activities and partnerships to strengthen global health security in LMICs.

Timeline of the negotiation of the Pandemic Accord**

First announcement of the agreement11/2020
03/2022Initiation of the drafting and negotiations of the agreement
WHO Member States’ discussion on the ‘zero draft’03/2023
05/2024Extension of the agreement for another year
Upon consensus, the agreement becomes legally binding under WHO’s frameworkongoing

HERA’s work in LMICs

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HERA's work in LMICs

HERA has steadily expanded its international efforts, particularly under Task 6 of its annual work plans, by working with low- and middle-income countries to enhance the production, stockpiling, and procurement of medical countermeasures (MCMs) and supporting global health initiatives like the pandemic accord. Its international budget grew from EUR 2 million in 2022 to EUR 40 million in 2024, reflecting both increased allocations and a reduced overall budget following the end of COVID-19 vaccine procurement.
HERA's global activities now span threat assessment, research and development, manufacturing, and MCM donations, with some international initiatives integrated into other work areas.

Partner collaboration map

& HERA’s global health focus area

Country-level HERA engagement in LMICs

Publications

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